


Longsuffering

by Laylah



Category: Xenogears
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Perfect Cinnamon Roll Billy Lee Black, Pre-Slash, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4890622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I might still be able to help, if you'll let me," Billy says. "There are spells to soothe older injuries when they get inflamed again."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Longsuffering

**Author's Note:**

> I came out to snicker at a badly translated video game and I'm feeling so emotionally compromised right now

The first time they were in Aquvy it wasn't obvious; Billy had never met any of these people before, so he had no basis for comparison. But now that they've been other places and come back, he can tell that Bart's moving stiffly. He should probably approach the subject cautiously. It's clear that Bart has a lot of pride.

"Are you hurt?" he asks as soon as he can catch Bart alone in the orphanage. Well, so much for caution.

"What?" Bart says, smiling too fast. "Of course not. You're awesome with those healing spells."

He'd argue that, frankly. _Adequate_ , yes, but if he were awesome he'd save far more people. "I'm not going to take it personally if you have an injury I missed, you know. But you're stiff."

"It's nothing," Bart insists. Billy frowns. "Nothing recent."

Well, that would explain why it's persisting, at least. The spells Billy uses in combat are intended to reverse fresh trauma, which is generally much easier than healing an old wound—the body cooperates with attempts to assist it in healing, but not once it's already formed scar tissue or found other ways to compensate.

"I might still be able to help, if you'll let me," Billy says. "There are spells to soothe older injuries when they get inflamed again."

Bart still hesitates, and Billy frowns at him harder, as if he were a recalcitrant child who needed to take his medicine. "Sure, I guess, if you want to," he says at last. "It's seriously not a big deal, but if it'll make you feel better..."

"It'll make _you_ feel better," Billy says. _You jackass_ , he doesn't add.

When he takes a step forward, though, Bart takes a step back. "You don't need me to take my shirt off or anything though, right? I mean, I'm a complete babe that everyone should want to see shirtless, but it's cold."

Billy rolls his eyes. "By all means, please keep your shirt on."

Those appear to be the magic words to make Bart hold still. Billy closes the distance between them, reaching out to rest his hand against Bart's back as he whispers the keys for a diagnostic spell. He technically doesn't _need_ touch for this, but it helps, and—

No. No 'and.' That's reason enough. The Ether tingles in his fingertips and he closes his eyes, concentrating, waiting for the understanding to filter back to him.

When it does, his eyes fly open again in alarm. "Bart, what _happened_ to you?" He was expecting some misalignment in the spine, probably with muscles overexerted to compensate; something that could have been an accident. Instead he senses a ropy network of scars, thick and ridged, long lines that knot where they cross each other and spread from shoulders to kidneys.

Bart pulls away, shrugging like he's trying to shake off Billy's touch. "Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago."

"That makes it worse!" Billy protests. "It means you were a child!"

"Sometimes," Bart says, "you go through something shitty because if you don't, someone you care about will go through something worse." His voice is completely steady but he's looking at the wall.

Oh. Billy's heart twinges. He knows that kind of decision entirely too well. "I... I hope you were able to protect them."

Bart's face softens into a warm smile that has no business making Billy feel as flustered as it does. "Yeah," he says. "I mean, you've met Margie."

"And I'm glad I was able to," Billy says. There's more to Bart than just the cocky, swaggering pirate prince, and Billy's glad of that, too, but he's not going to make this situation more awkward for both of them by saying so.

It was the right call; Bart nods. "So I did what I had to do. It's really not a problem anymore."

"Except that your scars ache in the cold."

"And _that_ wasn't a problem until I had to come out here! It never gets this cold in Aveh."

"But it means you healed imperfectly. And I can do something about that."

When he reaches out again, Bart shifts slightly, toward him. It's like permission. What kind of healers would be available, anyway, to a little boy who was beaten that badly for trying to protect someone? Billy doesn't let himself dwell on the question, because anger won't help him right now.

He places both palms flat against Bart's back, and he can't feel the scars through the layers of shirt and jacket but just knowing they're there is unsettling. He murmurs the Ether keys like a prayer, unlocking the power God has given him to heal. Warmth tingles in his fingertips, spreading out from him and into Bart's flesh. This kind of work takes less raw power than combat healing; a steady flow of gentle power works far better to soothe the pain of old wounds. The Ether is barely visible at this level, just a faintly increased brightness around his hands.

Bart is oddly quiet—Billy's used to him talking almost constantly, sometimes about nothing at all, loud and animated as if he doesn't even know how to slow down. But now he's almost silent, holding cautiously still. Billy extends the Ether's reach, letting it spread down into the lower reaches of the scars, and Bart makes a soft, throaty noise that sounds so intimate it makes Billy's cheeks flush hot.

That can't have been intentional, he decides a moment later. It's not in character for Bart at all. Clumsy "unintentional" seduction attempts don't seem nearly direct enough for someone like him. He ignores the sound and concentrates on his work.

"That's amazing," Bart says another minute later, his voice low and reverent. "I had no idea it could feel like this."

Billy flushes again, and feels ridiculous for it. Thank Heaven Bart can't see him now. "I'm sorry you've had to suffer this long."

"Whoa, no, don't sound all upset about it, I'm fine," Bart insists. "I mean—not that I'm saying you're doing nothing, that's totally not what I mean, I just, you know, it's—"

"You're used to it," Billy finishes. "I know. When you have to just live with something for a long time, you stop thinking about what it was like to not have to, whether that's a poorly healed injury or...."

"Or running yourself ragged trying to take care of a bunch of kids all alone?"

"Ah." He's still not used to those moments when Bart demonstrates that he's more than just a hotheaded pirate. "Not the example I might have chosen, but... I can't argue."

Bart turns around, catching Billy's hands before he can step back. "You don't have to suffer in silence anymore either, okay? I mean it. I want to help."

Billy's heard that sort of line before, but not like this, not with plain honesty instead of ugly subtext underlying it. He looks up into Bart's face, reading the earnest kindness there, the gentleness reflected in Bart's good eye. "Thank you," he says. Before he can second-guess himself out of it, he goes up on tiptoes and brushes his lips to Bart's cheek. 

Bart startles slightly, but holds on tighter to Billy's hands. "You got it," he says. He smiles. "We're in this together."


End file.
